I ordered a .25 Slash Tactical compact instead of a .22 mostly because ... I hesitate to be honest here but I can't be the only one to think this way ...
because I have so many tins of unused .25 cal pellets left over from an L2 and a Huben K1 I used to have.
Plus the few .30s I've had in the past were overly powerful and much to loud for my local conditions.
That caliber would be a better option for some types of hunting but unnecessary overkill for the shorter range paper target shooters.
And there's already a .22 GK1 around here somewhere to use up any spare .22 pellets, or else a .22 would have been my 1st choice in a Slash because of the wider variety of pellets in .22 cal. On the other hand, when spending this kind of money for an airgun where any caliber of the gun costs the same as another caliber, it is also quite satisfying on some manly emotional level to get the modestly higher shot power offered by the .25 cal over the .22..
Since these airguns have adjustable regulators and power controls. I expect that many people would tune their power down from top maximum anyway when they are tracking down the most accurate velocity ranges for specific pellets. Just because an airgun can be opened up to 100fpe doesn't mean that it can't or shouldn't be powered down to 20fpe for practice. In my mind the biggest advancement of modern airguns, other than the move to PCP air, are the adjustable power options. I don't want an airgun that is stuck at ~100fpe, I want one that can be easily dialed between 10fpe and 100fpe.
The direct technical comparisons I'm looking for would be between a Slash, a Huben K1 and possibly a Leshiy 2.
Those are 3 of the big competitors in that size and power range of semi-auto airguns and many people on the forum have already had the opportunity to compare an L2 and a K1 for themselves. A person might be able to pick up a couple of used K1s in the classifieds for the price of a new Slash with a couple of spare slug magazines.
Will the Slash really be that much better than a K1? Will the L2 have a market battle in that price range?
The Slash probably won't be twice as good as a K1. And the folding modular design of the Leshiy 2 makes it very easy to work on and upgrade and more compact for transport compared to the Slash. But the main thing for me is that the Slash will be different than the K1 and the L2. That's what makes a new model release like this so inherently interesting from a technical perspective. And it's coming from an established company with a good reputation for quality. So I'm not as concerned about 1st release problems as I might be with some other manufacturers.
Of course it will also be nice to have a few removable Slash magazines in hand compared to manually loading a K1 when pellets run out.
The Leshiy 2s also have removable magazines. But it was easier for me to just leave the same magazine in the gun and to use a speed loader to refill it with a single twist of the loader.
JP
